Learning Centers Carry on Legacy of Space Shuttle Challenger

When the space shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after its launch on Jan. 28, 1986, it seemed as if everything else in America stopped for the rest of the day as images of the tragedy were constantly replayed on television screens everywhere.

The horrific accident took the lives of its seven-astronaut crew: Cmdr. Dick Scobee; pilot Michael J. Smith; mission specialists Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka and Ron McNair; and payload specialists Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.

McAuliffe, in particular, captured the hearts of American students and educators after she was chosen to become the first private citizen in space as part of the newly created Teacher in Space Project.

Following the shuttle accident, McAuliffe's role in the mission became the inspiration for the Challenger Center for Space Science Education.

In the 25 years following that impactful day, the program has boomed, turning tragedy into triumph. The network now includes nearly 50 learning centers across the United States and overseas.

June Scobee Rodgers, widow of shuttle commander Scobee, told AOL News how the Challenger disaster ultimately inspired her to create the Challenger Center -– the world's first interactive education center where both teachers and students could experience space exploration.

"After the Challenger accident, when it was reported that the mission was lost, the crew was dead, and the pictures of the explosion were shown over and over and over, I thought, 'The world knows how they died. If there's any way I could tell them about this crew and their love of life and their love and joy of this mission, I want to do that,' " Scobee Rodgers recalled.

An accomplished educator herself -– having taught every grade level from kindergarten through college -- Scobee Rodgers brought the Challenger families together in 1986 shortly after the death of their loved ones on the space shuttle.

"I said, 'You know, we can't launch satellites, but can we continue the mission? The mission was so important, and the crew bonded and embraced Christa and called themselves the teacher-in-space mission, so could we continue that education mission?'

"The families selected me as their chairman and encouraged me to go off and do that, and they supported me and we joined in our efforts, but it took a great deal of strength to see it through."

In those early days and months of germinating the idea for the Challenger Center, Scobee Rodgers and the Challenger families were aided by astronauts, mission specialists, businesspeople and aerospace companies, and even Vice President George H.W. Bush contributed a personal check.

In a letter to Scobee Rodgers, Bush wrote: "The Challenger Seven lived in vibrant pursuit of a dream. As long as we continue to pursue that dream, as long as we help to touch the lives of young people, as long as we help to ensure that America continues to rise to the challenge of the new frontier, then it can be said that we never truly lost those seven brave souls. They will continue to live on with us, and with the hopes and dreams of the nation."

Scobee Rodgers says the whole process of creating the first Challenger Center in Houston was an important healing aid for the families involved.

"It was a way to help us get beyond our grieving, a way for us to look at the positive, beautiful side of that crew and who they were.

"And, of course, you see that each time you go to a Challenger learning center, you see the children, and their simulation experience, doing the same thing, going through the same motions as the Challenger crew."

At this point, the centers reach 400,000 students and 40,000 teachers annually, touching 4 million students since 1986 and an estimated double that number of children through televised and Internet programs.

The current Challenger Center chairman of the board, former space shuttle astronaut Scott Parazynski, is very proud of how the centers influence many students and teachers.

"The aftermath of Challenger and the evolution of the Challenger Center was a great defining element of my future life, to be able to support an organization that was born out of tragedy but has become one of the most successful STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education organizations in the world," he told AOL News.

"They inspire young people to pursue math and science through hands-on exploration, and that really resonated with me, and when I was later offered the opportunity to serve on the board and ultimately serve as chairman of the group, it was just such a natural thing."

Part of the mission of the space shuttle Challenger was to inspire kids and to promote space education. The Challenger centers have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for their role as a top motivator in mathematics, science and technology.

"We have the capacity to truly suspend disbelief. When kids come into our center, they are going to space," Parazynski said.

"They're operating a mission-control center for half of their mission, and then halfway through the flight, either to a comet or to Mars or the International Space Station, they'll switch roles, and then they'll be part of the space flight crew and they're conducting a real mission, they're talking with their teammates on Earth and up in space, solving problems using real math, real science, real knowledge of physiology and chemistry and physics."

And their mission continues.